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It seems to me that the ability to live mostly "tech-free" is drawing to a very rapid close. More and more people are assuming that everyone has a Smartphone with various apps, that everyone has Uber service available to them and having a car for individual use is selfish and wasteful, that anyone who does not subscribe to modern urban leftist beliefs is an idiot, and that expecting good service in restaurants is silly and unrealistic. In addition to this, brick and mortar stores are rapidly disappearing or in financial trouble, and Kindles have mostly replaced old-fashioned books -- and now the latest (so far as I know) is that Best Buy will stop selling DVDs because so many people subscribe to a streaming service. CDs (compact discs) are also becoming more obsolete, from what I have read-- but what is funny to me is that I have noticed that vinyl LPs have made a return in popularity.
So, if you do agree that our way of life is going the way of the dinosaur, how much longer do you think those of us who prefer a simple and mostly tech-free environment will be able to resist and refrain from joining the 21st century?
And, yes, I know the above is something of a rant, but -- of course -- feel free to post your own rants!
I am fortunate to say those infamous words of Professor John Robinson.................NOT IN MY LIFE TIME....for it does not seem much of my life left.
In some ways, it is hilarious for......consider how I make my morning coffee. Cowboy coffee on the stove top. WHAT? HOW PRIMITIVE! But consider, when it comes time to recycle the pot, that's it, just the pot, not a whole bunch of inwards that may or may not be recyclable, just the metal of the pot.
As environmentally conscious we are becoming of our world, does that not make more sense......or is environmentally conscious just a lie?
I am a rifle touting cowgirl with her phone wired in the wall and if takes Internet (high speed, broad band, unlimited) for one to have a happy life, I am glad I don't have it..............and they are not here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheShadow
One of human's best abilities is that of adaptation. If we don't change with the times we will be left behind. There will always be those who live the old-fashioned way, and some of those ways are better, without a doubt, but some of the new ways are better too. It's up to each person to find their own mix of what technologies will improve their lives, and which just make things harder. I'm hoping for the day we all have free access to wifi nation-wide to ensure equal access. Personally, I love some newer technologies and they've enhanced my life immeasurably.
That's not the problem. The problem is that we are buying the same things, over and over again, each time the format changes. I am tired of doing that and have decided to stay at DVD/CD.
I embraced tech years ago. We stream everything and use online services.
Without the internet finding parts or instructions for the antique sewing machines I restore and use would be very difficult if not impossible. If I need to wind an antique shuttle or thread a machine there a YouTube video to watch. Old manual .pdf’s can be found online for downloading or printing. It’s a great combination of the past and present.
The tailor who invented one of the first sewing machine in France had his shop burnt down by other tailors who were fearful their livelihoods would be gone with the new technology. That didn’t stop sewing machines from coming into use and it also didn’t stop hand sewing entirely.
Carrying cash, banking in person, printing tickets and shopping at a brick and mortar still happens. Convenience drives choices and if technology makes things easier, it’s accepted.
.......Carrying cash, banking in person, and shopping at a brick and mortar can still happen, the choice is one of convenience currently.
How very true.....convenient for the crook!
How many warnings do we get that our computer systems have been hacked?
A reason why I don't do on line banking is security of my money. If it is hard for me to get to it, it is hard for the crook.
Further, it's not always the bad crook. I use to pay my phone company on the computer.....until the time they said that they bank refused the payment, blamed it on me, took time out of my day to go get a teller's check, and pay them that way.
No more! I send them now a cheque out of my check book in the snail mail.
It seems to me that the ability to live mostly "tech-free" is drawing to a very rapid close. More and more people are assuming that everyone has a Smartphone with various apps, that everyone has Uber service available to them and having a car for individual use is selfish and wasteful, that anyone who does not subscribe to modern urban leftist beliefs is an idiot, and that expecting good service in restaurants is silly and unrealistic. In addition to this, brick and mortar stores are rapidly disappearing or in financial trouble, and Kindles have mostly replaced old-fashioned books -- and now the latest (so far as I know) is that Best Buy will stop selling DVDs because so many people subscribe to a streaming service. CDs (compact discs) are also becoming more obsolete, from what I have read-- but what is funny to me is that I have noticed that vinyl LPs have made a return in popularity.
So, if you do agree that our way of life is going the way of the dinosaur, how much longer do you think those of us who prefer a simple and mostly tech-free environment will be able to resist and refrain from joining the 21st century?
And, yes, I know the above is something of a rant, but -- of course -- feel free to post your own rants!
The 20th century has been gone for nearly 24 years now. Even my 89 year old mother, before she died in 2020, was happily using an iPad, and was pretty competent on a PC, and paid all her bills online. As far as the car thing - I have NEVER even once heard anyone say that having a car is wasteful, or even that anyone assumes that everyone uses Uber. I think you are stretching things a bit there.
Good luck on not moving forward though. I am perhaps a little slow on some things, but I was a systems analyst for almost 40 years so tech was always in the forefront for me.
Last edited by ChessieMom; 10-16-2023 at 11:39 AM..
After I retired we relocated to rural Maine and built a farmhouse.
We have gotten into a social network of people who are mostly Luddites.
My house has power grid access AND solar power that we can switch back and forth between at will. We have cellphone coverage and our telephone company 2 years ago got a grant to upgrade our phone line to fiber-optic
We heat our home with firewood, My Dw cooks our meals on / in a fire-fueled cookstove.
We had a close friend Tamara who recently passed away. She had a Harvard law degree and was once an Assistant DA in Los Angeles, then she vowed to leave law, she moved to rural Maine and lived in an off-grid cabin [no indoor plumbing, she used an outhouse, and heated her water over a cookstove]. For a few years she would come visit us and go out on my land to forage vittles.
Tamara believed in 'grounding' and felt that her body aura was better when connected to the earth. One winter her goal was to go through the entire winter without ever putting on shoes. She stayed barefoot. Chopping holes through ice to fill a bucket with water from a stream. Tending her chickens outside. Gathering and chopping firewood in deep snow/ice all while barefoot.
Some people see or do things in the cities when they snap and decide to walk away from the horrors of it all.
How many warnings do we get that our computer systems have been hacked?
A reason why I don't do on line banking is security of my money. If it is hard for me to get to it, it is hard for the crook.
Further, it's not always the bad crook. I use to pay my phone company on the computer.....until the time they said that they bank refused the payment, blamed it on me, took time out of my day to go get a teller's check, and pay them that way.
No more! I send them now a cheque out of my check book in the snail mail.
Our accounts are frozen at all the reporting bureaus and I have two-step verification on all online accounts. What I rarely if ever use is a check with my routing number clearly at the bottom. Check washing is too easy if the check gets intercepted, which can start at our mailbox.
We recently used a scam garage door service for a garage door spring that was broken. They could come same day and it’s a long story involving total stupidity on our part. DH was having hernia surgery in two days and we panicked, not using our usual caution and research.
Even though their online ad said card, check and cash accepted, they wanted cash or check when the guy came. We refused. They finally took the credit card payment, but refunded the payment on the following day. They then again asked for a check or cash. We refused and they said someone would call for the credit card number. That was 8 weeks ago. We haven’t heard from them yet and we don’t expect to.
I have no clue what went on, but they obviously did not want to use or have record of a credit card payment. If they ever call again, we’ll happily give them cash for the amount the local services charge, not their inflated price. We would have been out the money using cash or check. My guess is they’ve moved on to greener pastures and suckers.
Our accounts are frozen at all the reporting bureaus and I have two-step verification on all online accounts. What I rarely if ever use is a check with my routing number clearly at the bottom. Check washing is too easy if the check gets intercepted, which can start at our mailbox.
We recently used a scam garage door service for a garage door spring that was broken. They could come same day and it’s a long story involving total stupidity on our part. DH was having hernia surgery in two days and we panicked, not using our usual caution and research.
Even though their online ad said card, check and cash accepted, they wanted cash or check when the guy came. We refused. They finally took the credit card payment, but refunded the payment on the following day. They then again asked for a check or cash. We refused and they said someone would call for the credit card number. That was 8 weeks ago. We haven’t heard from them yet and we don’t expect to.
I have no clue what went on, but they obviously did not want to use or have record of a credit card payment. If they ever call again, we’ll happily give them cash for the amount the local services charge, not their inflated price. We would have been out the money using cash or check. My guess is they’ve moved on to greener pastures and suckers.
A woman who was a coworker of mine got a call one day from her angry husband who wanted to know why she took $40,000 out of their home equity account. (Their marriage was getting near closing time, and I think he thought she took the money out for some nefarious reason.)
What they eventually found out happened was that similar ripoffs were happening to their neighbors because someone had been stealing mail from their mailboxes and using whatever bank statements and so forth they could find to get money from people's accounts. They eventually got their money back when they were able to prove it was a crime, but it took a very long time. Not having all that info available to a thief via paper statements would have prevented the crime.
I've been banking online for years, having gone paperless, and I've yet to have money stolen from any account.
I've been online banking for a couple decades and no problems. Credit cards have had problems but now I only use cards that notify me the second they see something that may not be us. (one credit card let charges obviously not us go on for a month, until I saw the statement, so they are booted).
Generally speaking I am careful, money accounts have two step authentication, and I don't use public WIFI.
My phone is the single best invention for saving me time and frustration. It has greatly enhanced my quality of life.
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I never mail checks because of theft as others have mentioned. I use my online bill pay through my bank and CC’s. A few places such as my chiropractor and groomer only take cash or checks at the time of service. I stopped buying books and just read them on my phone with the kindle app.
When I buy tickets for an event online I always pick up the tickets at the event. For flights I print out my tickets because I worry about not being able to pull them up on my phone. I order many things online because it’s cheaper and they come to my door. My car is 15 years old so still has a cd player.
My mom died 14 years ago at age 89 and had a 8th grade education. She had a computer because she loved to research things. She was a smart, curious woman. Personally having a smartphone has made my life much easier.
I never mail checks because of theft as others have mentioned. I use my online bill pay through my bank and CC’s. A few places such as my chiropractor and groomer only take cash or checks at the time of service. I stopped buying books and just read them on my phone with the kindle app.
When I buy tickets for an event online I always pick up the tickets at the event. For flights I print out my tickets because I worry about not being able to pull them up on my phone. I order many things online because it’s cheaper and they come to my door. My car is 15 years old so still has a cd player.
My mom died 14 years ago at age 89 and had a 8th grade education. She had a computer because she loved to research things. She was a smart, curious woman. Personally having a smartphone has made my life much easier.
Well, when they messed up my computer on line credit card payment, they were threatening me with having to mail them a teller's check for the next year. It is not as convenient as one may think when they are making the mistake.
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I think you are stretching things a bit there. 
